Thursday, April 18, 2013

Hayward School Superintendent Is Finalist For Berkeley Job

HAYWARD | The superintendent of the Hayward Unified School District is a finalist for the same position in Berkeley, The Citizen has learned.

Berkeley Unified will formally announce Dr. Donald Evans is a finalist for the position Friday morning, according to sources.

Evans's interest in seeking employment outside of Hayward after just 18 months at the helm of its schools is a surprise to many. It also comes at time when his office has led renewed efforts to formulate of new mission statement for the district along with two town hall meetings scheduled for the next few weeks.

“After searching all over the country for a strong instructional leader who is the best fit for Berkeley, the Board believes we have found our next superintendent right next door in Hayward,” said Board President Karen Hemphill. “Dr. Evans came highly recommended from multiple sources, and we were even more impressed once we had an opportunity to meet with him and hear what his vision and experience could bring to our community.”

After serving as an associate superintendent in Compton, Calif. and overseeing Oakland's elementary schools, Evans was named superintendent for Hayward's struggling schools in November 2011.

Although Hayward's academic scores still rank as the worst in Alameda County, during Evans's tenure, the district moved clear of a possible state takeover that had hovered over it for several years, but was also plagued by constant infighting and bickering on the school board. An affair between the previous board's president and a fellow school trustee reported in late July 2012 paralyzed the school board until two new members were elected last November.

The situation in Berkeley has been similarly unstable. After the retirement of Berkeley Superintendent Bill Huyett in August 2012, the school district named interim co-superintendents before failing to name a permanent replacement on two occasions.

86 comments:

Evans is a very weak man that hardly showed up to work at the district office. And I am not sure why he was ever in a management position in education. All of education is like that where practically all administrators are very weak and they know each other and they hire each other like a twisted network of friends with benefits in the education industry.

I hope Berkeley school district knows that they are getting-- a spineless superintendent that is always taking vacations and traveling. Good ridddens. Move on Hayward you might want to get a much stronger superintendent that actually shows up to work next time but as I said all of education has weak people.

I refuse to believe any real change is coming for Hayward Unified... The revolving door that is the HUSD Superintendancy is a joke. Get hired increase your retirement, Don't give a flying fig (Family Friendly) about Student Learning. By the time the Grand Jury gets around to investigating the stealing of funds and robbing students, the new person coming in will say... I wasn't here at that time so I don't know anything, now pay me my $225,000 a year and move on. I am disgusted

Crooked administrators who were pink slipped can now have their jobs back! EdJoin lists several site administrative positions. The game is hire new inexperienced administrators who have no idea how to run a school site, skim their budgets to cover the asses of the district office administrators who are robbing the district blind year after year. Maybe now Chien Wu Fernandez can run for Superintendant, as Christine Quinn puppet. All the old "consultants" can now come teach the same garbage to the new administrator and get paid. Quinn now works for one of the companies but now goes by another name Amato.

Donald Evans should be ashamed of himself! How can Berkeley Unified ever think that he would be a good fit for them? He has done nothing to clean up HUSD; he has not required district administrators to do tgheir jobs..How Sick!!!!

I'd be interested to know who Berkeley Unified spoke to in Hayward? Did they speak to the board, administrators or teachers? I doubt it. Evans is just another person who quit on the children of Hayward. It's a shame.

When I complain an issue to the school board, I get referred to contact the Supt.office. What good is this? I guess if you don't qualify to go on welfare, you can sit on your butt and do nothing by sitting on the school board and receive a stipend and fring benifits by doing nothing but referring the responabilties to someone who is nothing more than a figure head on a sinking ship. The school board is the one that makes decisive issues and pushes them. This district is turning into a joke.

And another one bite's the dust....Those lyrics were written for HUSD. The really unfortunate thing for HUSD is there is no one qualified on staff to step in during the new search for a superintendent. Just look at the district administrators...Chin Woo-Fernandez, ugh! Letty Salinas, OMG. The newbie Dr. Wayne, just fluff, smoke and mirrors =( resurrecting Janis Duran, God Forbid! Well we could always interview Ursula Reed for the job. I am getting sick just thinking of the mess HUSD is in, once again.

Give me a break! Dr. Reynoso is the only thinking person on the Board of Education. He is the one that is constantly asking the hard questions about finances. He is the one who shows that the district office staff are not doing their jobs.

Why is this site always mentioning Reynoso it does not matter what gets in here about Hayward and before you know it the name Reynoso pops up. I think Reynoso as much as I do not like him because he is a republican he is the only one with any balls that I have seen in ages for this area. Agree or disagree with him but he is VERY strong. We do not have any fellow democrats with balls.

Reynoso doesn't ask "hard" questions. He asks stupid questions, and belittles staff, cuts them off and does exactly what he chastises other board members: "commenting on his comments"

Take a long hard look at the board meetings. It's there for anyone to see. Him blaming the documents for "not being searchable," when they indeed are, is another lame attempt at making him seem so smart and staff so unreasonably incompetent.

1:22 if your definition of a "Nut Case" is a board member who reads the board packet, asks the hard questions, counts up the cost, and calls out the crooks that are stealing from children, by hiring their "friends" as consultant and private contractors without using the bidding process, then yes Reynoso is a Nut Case. Administrator caught with their hand in the cookie jar leave before they get called out publicly on the record by Reynoso. What ever happened with the report that pointed out some of the corruption?

Dr. Reynoso has better things to do than to sit and post on this site. He is an honorable man and if he were to post here he would use his own name. He has nothing to hide nor nothing to be ashamed of...Nor does he have to fear retaliation from his employer or the district where his child attends school. So give up on insisting that Dr. Reynoso posts on this site under the anonymous label. I on the other hand need to keep my name private!!!!

I would like to see the board district support what dr. reynoso has been trying to do for years but if he cannot get 2 more votes I do not think we are ever going to see a district our kids and home values in hayward deserve.

3:37 I never seen Reynoso not take the consequences of his position even when an army of true nut jobs are against him. I saw this in my school meeting last year when he was pushing for fingerprinting everybody. We need more go get em kind of people like Reynoso in this area full of apathetic people. The husd board has always been very weak just like 2:37 saids too even all the politicians this here area are weak.

OMG! $400.00 per month regardless of how many meetings they must attend...you think that is their motivation? There are no benefits...thanks to a previous board, led by Mr. Frumkin and supported by Mr. Armas, all benefits were erased. As for them using a position on the BOE as a stepping stone, forget that. No one who has held a position as a board member in HUSD has gone on to any other public office. It is a death knell for aspiring politicians.

Thereare no benefits for board members with respect to insurance if their spouse has insurance coverage. They receive only what the employees receive. There is no stipend for gas or other expenses. i don't know where you get your info, but you are mistaken. What benefits 4/23 @4:17 are you referring to because I would like to know. I have been a board "watcher" for years and I remember when the benefits were withdrawn.

A letter referring to her medical leave was read on her behalf before the closed session of the board meeting on Wednesday night. It is now a matter of public record. I am wondering if she is out on medical leave from her job as San Leandro City Council Member too??

I was at that meeting and I did not hear any letter like that you mentioned about Ursula Reed and I even looked at the video. Ursula is a hard working woman for the district in HR. The best director.

I do like when our union pres Mercedes makes fun of Reynoso by poking at his doctor title is so funny. I love it first she always says mister then with a spanish accent she says doctor Reynoso... hehe I do not like that man. Mercedes Faraj you are the best keep makin fun on that man Reynoso.

Dear fello teachers we need to speak out against Reynoso and always check our union web site for latest news. Last time thats how we found out we were losing our principle by Reynosos doing.

to 11:28It figures Teachers of HUSD can't even spell principal or use apostrophes. These teachers continue to be barbaric and crude towards the board and makes me wonder how these teachers behave in the classroom. I can't wait until my youngest son graduates from Tennyson in 2 more years.

The teachers's union has not changed, even then Kathleen Crummey was just as rude and obnoxious as the new union head Mercedes Faraj, and let us not forget the likes of the union vice president Mary Walsh.

Hayward needs a better class of teachers. I wonder if the HEA union is aware of their reputation in the community of Hayward.

And to the teacher at 11:28 here is a link, since you like links. To improve your grammar please go to http://www.grammar-monster.com/.

Glad to know that there was someone who could confirm what I knew to be true. If you are referring to a mole in the DO because the reading of the letter was posted I would like to know why? Once something is read or said in open session there is no secrecy involved so to reveal the letter or its contents does not require a mole.

4/29@1057amIt is/was public record there is an opportunity for members of the public to speak under "items from the community" before the board goes into closed session. These statements are a matter of public record. Any member of the public or the media may request to know what if any comments from the community were made prior to closed session. It makes no difference how the letter's message was learned. If Ms. Reed or her spokesperson wanted it to be a private item of correspondence then they should have presented it in a sealed envelope to the president of the board and asked that it remain confidential. Clearly Ms. Reed didn't care so why should you 4/29 @10:57am? Why is it that the public should be kept in the dark what happened to being transparent in HUSD?

I'm not saying she cared to keep it private. I'm saying no one else was there that isn't a member of the DO or board save 2 people. No recording exists and no notes are taken. You were told this information. obviously by a district employee. These statements are not private but its erroneous to say they are a matter of public record.

It matters not whether I was present or not. The mere fact that Ms.Reed had a representative read a letter on her behalf in open session, prior to the board adjourning into closed session, IS PUBLIC INFORMATION.Are we now saying that whomever reported on that letter, read in open session, should be reprimanded, called out, put on public display? You are one sick person if you feel that nobody has a right to share open meeting information. Many is the time that members of the public, and employees have taken advantage of speaking to the board under items from the community prior to the board going into closed session. They have chosen to do so for a variety of reasons none of which involved secrecy or keeping the rest of the public from knowing they spoke.

Ms. Reed's letter was read during open public session. No member of the public, an employee or anyone else may go into closed session with the board unless it is listed on the closed session agenda; and only then for very specific and narrow reasons.

You really do need to understand the Ralph M. Brown Act and how it applies to board meetings. It's called transparency! Ms. Reed knew exactly what she was doing when she had her letter read; the probability of less people being in attendance at that time; no camera in operation; less of a chance for the public to know.

How do you know I am not an employee? You don't and what difference does it make? I have nothing to be angry about regarding Ms. Reed and her letter. I only reacted to the all out outrage regarding how someone "found out" about the letter; that there was a "mole" in the DO. For as long as there has been an HUSD there have been people who believe that the public should know about what is happening in the district; good, bad or otherwise. It is about transparency. BTW if someone did request to know what was presented in open session before the board adjourned into closed session, the district would have to supply them with a copy of the letter. It's called "freedom of information".

You are really dumb. It was read at an open public meeting therefor it is a matter of public interest; anything read in an open session cannot be deemed private/confidential or personnel. Do some more research on your facts. Time for you to give it up. You will not win on this one.

Your reading skills need improvement. I haven't once said it was private. You or one of the hundreds of anonymous people said it was "a matter of public record,".

I continue to disagree. There is no public record of it. At all. It's not archived in the minutes and it's not summarized in the after report. Furthermore, you cannot be provided with a copy of her letter by requesting it from the board. I challenge you personally on that one but because I know who you are and I know who you work for, I am one hundred percent positive you will not do this.

Give it up. Turn it loose. This is my last comment on the issue. You obviously cannot admit the truth that either a district gossip or a board member told you about that letter or you heard it from someone who heard it from someone else.

As far as Brown and sunshine, of course that applies to open session, Roberts rules of order and so forth. HOWEVER, Ms.Reed's letter was read out loud pre closed session last board meeting in a room full of certain people. No one else was there and I know for a fact that you were not.

The letter for support of Ursula Reed can be requested by anyone and there are audio recordings that I made one and I am sure the district secretary made one too for the record. I always make an audio recording with my iphone of those public meetings.

I am not sure what the argument here is. Regardless who was there anything read/spoken in a public comment time just before going into a closed session meeting IS PUBLIC. Let's move on beyond this. Ursula Reed and that incompetent teacher friend of hers that read the letter seems to think the letter is private...in reality the letter is open to the public.

I was there and I am part of the staff and a teacher read a letter that has become public. And 2 city employees were there too just watching to be sure people had plenty of chairs.

BTW there are many of us fellow district staff that think Ursula Reed is not director quality. Move on Ursula time to start looking at Edjoin.org

Thank you 5/3@2:23pm for supporting the fact that Ms. Reed's "friend" reading the letter in the open session, prior to going into closed session, makes it a matter of public record. Ignorant people are so frustrating. I continued this back and forth because I believe it is so very important that all members of our community understand the Ralph M.Brown Open Meeting Act.

For 10:45am...You are not a very good detective if you think you have identified who I am. How pitiful it is that you would go to such lengths just to protect someone who is so ignorant that she doesn't understand matters of personnel or the Brown Act. That should be proof enough that Ms. Reed should say "toodles" and move on her merry way.

Reynoso writes these type of articles as I always suspected of him doing that and doing all the postings that support the articles. Yep hi reynoso. Admit ebcitizen that you have reynoso contribute to the articles.

I am insulted! Dr. Reynoso did not write my comments. I do not need anyone to speak for me. I have lived in this town longer than Dr. Reynoso has been alive. I was a student here before HUSD became unified. I know of what I speak and don't appreciate Dr. Reynoso being given credit for my words or my thoughts. Too bad 7:40 and 7:50 you are wrong again.

OMG I just read all these comments. I do hope HUSD does not select "dreamer boy" wayne as interim supt. Have you seen his team? He has a secretary who is about 100 yrs old. His team is never at their offices and neither is he. another failed choice for HUSD. Wayne is all fluff nothing there. I've watched board meetings and he has no idea what he's talking about. Dr. Evans is probably better off leaving anyway. That whole district is a hot mess.

The HUSD board is a very fluffy board with very little conviction. Weak as they come. Not look good for being a mostly African-American board and board president and a African American superintendent all a complete failure just calling as I see them. Imagine how happy I was when I saw a board president and majority board and a superintendent all being my color and yet a total failure.

10:32 and 11:15 Then why don't you help the HUSD board. Lots of complainers but nothing to contribute. Yes the board is super majority of color with Latino and Black. Help to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. I am sure the HUSD school board is working hard now as I have seen them all work hard before. The board gets to much abuse from their staff, teachers and the public. If they are weak then help them be strong by supporting them.

Donald Evans was horrible in Compton. He was being investigated for stealing funds and for being found in a district office with his pants down with another man (Board member Micah Ali). Evans is a devil in disguise.